Sink or Swim, Fly or Fall
by dreamsofyesterday1
Summary: Part six of the 'Robyn' series. Robyn has to learn to cope on her own when Sportacus falls ill. Comical results soon follow as time moves on. Mild sexual innuendo in latter chapters but nothing rude Rated T for safety in light of the innuendo
1. Trouble in Paradise

Sink or Swim, Fly or Fall

Disclaimer: All disclaimers apply. Robyn is my own character ad Crazytown and Lazytown are mine also.

Part six of the Robyn series.

Robyn sat alone in the airship; she was extremely bored and didn't know what to do. She'd cleaned out Sportacus' sports equipment cupboard and rearranged things and had also swept the floor, cleaned the surfaces, tuned up the piloting system and adjusted everything that needed adjusting. Robyn knew know what being grounded felt like; she'd never done anything before to give Sportacus cause to discipline her until three hours ago.

Sportacus had been at the Mayor's house doing necessary jobs, and maintenance. Despite being sixty five years of age the Mayor was still perfectly capable of doing these jobs but had relented to Bessie's urgings for him to relax and take things easy. Sportacus had offered to do most of the jobs for him and now helped out on a regular basis.

Robyn wasn't permitted to help with the jobs or go on the road trip as she'd been recovering from a virus for the last two weeks and no one wanted to risk a relapse. She'd been stuck for things to do and didn't feel as ill as she had done for weeks and an idea came into her head. She'd seen Sportacus call for the sky chaser and run off of the platform and land on it a hundred times and was tempted to try it herself. Surely if Sportacus could do it she could do it too? The airship had been programmed to respond to her vocal commands too so the whole thing would be easy.

"Door!" Robyn commanded and the door opened. She stepped out and looked down at the town below not for a moment having second thoughts about what she was going to do. Preparing herself for her small stunt Robyn shouted, "Sky chaser!"

The sky chaser released itself from its holding bay and opened itself up in readiness for its passenger. Robyn walked back a few steps then ran and jumped off the end of the door. Robyn knew she was in trouble when she missed the sky chaser.

Sportacus' crystal blared and he looked up to see where the source of the trouble was. It was with horror that he saw Robyn falling through the air. He ran with all the speed he could muster and caught Robyn before she hit the ground. The force of catching Robyn after she'd fallen from such a height sent them both sprawling on the ground and the Mayor and Bessie soon came to their aid but stopped short when they saw the expression on Sportacus' face.

Sportacus got up effortlessly and walked the short distance to where Robyn was still lying on the ground. Robyn could see the pair of extremely familiar feet through the tangle of her dishevelled hair and inwardly grimaced, she was in BIG trouble. She lifted her hair from her face and looked up sheepishly at Sportacus when she saw the look on his face. Sportacus extended an arm for Robyn to help herself up with and she did so.

Robyn gasped when the hand that held her arm changed its gentle hold to a vice like grip and she was dragged over to the underneath of the airship.

"Ladder!" Sportacus called. Anger was clearly visible in his voice.

The ladder obediently fell and Sportacus sharply pointed upwards with his spare arm in a gesture that told Robyn to climb up and quickly. Once her arm was released Robyn did as she was bid and swallowed hard at what she knew was coming. She heard Sportacus call for the sky chaser and seconds later heard him call for the platform to lower itself. Robyn didn't need to watch the sky chaser fly effortlessly into its holding bay as she'd seen it do it hundreds of times. Robyn got to the top of the ladder and saw Sportacus standing at the far end of the airship with his arms folded and looking extremely displeased. Robyn smiled sheepishly and was surprised when Sportacus rounded on her.

"What do you think you doing!" Sportacus shouted. He was still shocked at seeing Robyn falling through the air and it had amplified his anger.

"I was trying to do what you do." Robyn stated.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to do what I do? You should know better than that, especially when you're unwell!"

"I'm not a child!" Robyn shouted back, her indignation sparked by Sportacus' last comment. "I'm nearly eighteen years old and I can do what I like!" Robyn continued.

"Not when it puts your life in danger and especially not when you're living with me!"

"And what if I didn't live with you?"

"Until you are eighteen you have no choice! You are still a child and are under my care and supervision. I have never had to say this before and always hoped it would never come to this, you're grounded! You will not leave this airship for four days under any circumstances."

Robyn opened her eyes and moth wide in utter outrage. She sputtered numerous words and protests against this unjust punishment and being treated like a child but Sportacus left the airship, ignoring her.


	2. Making up

A letter popped through the bottom of the airship and Robyn grabbed it with the same finesse with which Sportacus grabbed his. She opened the canister and pulled out the letter, it read: 'Forgiven?' Robyn thought on this for a few seconds and then went over to the platform, "platform down!" she instructed and the platform lowered.

She knelt down on the platform and looked over the edge; she could see Sportacus on the ground waving what looked like a white handkerchief in a gesture that said he surrendered. A ghost of a smile touched Robyn's lips. She looked up towards the airship and said, "Platform up."

Sportacus felt saddened when the platform rose but upon hearing the familiar sound of Erin squawking he looked up. Erin dropped a note on the ground in front of Sportacus and flew back to the airship and through the open door. He knelt down and picked the note up. Opening the note with trepidation Sportacus read the one word answer, 'yes'.

Sportacus smiled and minutes later he was back in the airship. He spotted Robyn sitting in the middle of the floor, the same sheepish expression she'd had on her face when a few hours before. Sportacus smiled slightly and went to sit down in front of her, they had to talk.

"Robyn I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you." Sportacus began, "I also shouldn't have grabbed your arm like that. I hurt you didn't I?"

Robyn looked down unable to meet Sportacus' eyes with her own, he was making her feel worse about she'd done with apologising for disciplining her. She'd make him feel worse if she told him the truth and couldn't do that. He had hurt her arm but she knew she deserved it and had to make Sportacus stop feeling guilty about doing what he had a right to do.

"Yes," the word she'd dreaded saying. Sportacus' face fell. "I deserved it though. I frightened the life out of you and it was a stupid thing to do. I'm the one that should be apologising, not you. I'm sorry."

Sportacus frowned a little but more in a perplexed than angry way, "why did you do it?"

"I wanted to be like you. I've seen you do it a hundred times and wanted to try it myself. It was a stupid thing to do and won't happen again."

"It's only stupid if you do it unsupervised, maybe we can try it together now."

"Really?"

"Yes, come on." Sportacus got up and called for the door to open.

Robyn got up but sat down again, "I can't."

Sportacus frowned again and walked back into the airship, "why not?"

Robyn took in a deep breath, "You grounded me. I upset you and deserve to be punished. We can try the sky chaser thing in four days when I'm not grounded anymore. I know you want to unground me but I won't let you. What I did was wrong and as I said before deserves punishment."

Sportacus filled with pride at these words. She had spoken with such integrity and sincerity that it moved him that she was just a child of seventeen. She'd accepted what she'd done and had accepted if not pressed punishment for her actions upon herself. Sportacus could say nothing in response to any of this and drew Robyn up into a huge hug. He drew back instantly when he heard Robyn draw in a sharp intake of breath.

"Let me see," Sportacus said pointing to Robyn's arm. There was no room for argument this time.

Reluctantly Robyn drew up the loose sleeve of her lilac blouse and showed her injured arm to Sportacus. There were bruises where his fingers had dug into her delicate skin and they looked extremely sore. Sportacus took Robyn's injured arm gently in his hand looked over the damage he had done. Tears filled Sportacus eyes, he'd used his immense strength to harm a defenceless girl and what made it worse was that he'd done it in anger. Robyn perceived Sportacus' anguish and this time it was her that drew him into a hug. She put all the comfort Sportacus needed in the hug and he soon calmed.

Sportacus drew back from the hug slowly and looked deeply into Robyn's clear blue eyes. He could see no traces of hate or anger in her eyes and relief filled him. He still felt bad about what he'd done but the fact that Robyn didn't blame him for it made it feel a little better. Robyn had always had a forgiving nature and never condemned those that wronged her unless the harm that been done had been great. To look in her eyes which were the very windows of her soul was to see every emotion she felt at that time and every ounce of love that resided in her heart.

"This reminds me of the time you told me how daddy died. We were in much the same position then if I remember rightly. You accusing and torturing yourself for being human and me slapping you back into reality and letting you know that being human is ok. Don't feel bad about the arm; you were angry and rightly so." Robyn paused and Sportacus was about to speak when Robyn cut in, "don't tell me that it was no excuse for hurting me. I made you angry so all in all it's my fault my arm got hurt. The arm will heal. This has been a lesson to both of us today and we can learn from it. Agreed?"

Sportacus shrugged shaking his head, Robyn had done it again. Looking up at Robyn again Sportacus smiled and simply answered, "Agreed."

Robyn smiled in answer and both hugged again. When the hug ended Sportacus looked around the airship in confusion for a few seconds, something was different somehow.

"I cleaned." Robyn said in answer to Sportacus' questioning look.

Robyn chuckled when Sportacus narrowed his eyes a little and comically inspected every surface by running his index finger along it and then rubbing two other fingers against his index finger. Sportacus then went over to where his sports equipment was stored and gasped in melodramatic horror when he saw everything had been rearranged.

By this time Robyn had dissolved into laughter and her laughter grew when Sportacus made a huge melodrama over a spot of dirt she'd missed. Sportacus soon joined Robyn in laughing and it was some time before either of them could say anything.

"It'll do I suppose," Sportacus remarked jokingly wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

He was extremely impressed with Robyn's efforts and decided he'd have to ground her more often if this was going to be the result. He'd never seen the airship so clean.


	3. Sportacus Doesn't Feel Too Good

Robyn woke up slightly later than normal that morning. She sat up slowly expecting to be lectured by Sportacus but sat up a lot faster when she heard nothing. She was extremely surprised and more than a little concerned to see that Sportacus was still in bed. It wasn't like him to sleep after the sun had risen and she wanted to know what was wrong.

Robyn got up out of her bed and crept the short distance to Sportacus' bed. When she arrived by his bed side she gently lifted up the duvet and saw that Sportacus was awake but looked rather pale.

Sportacus saw Robyn's concerned look and answered the question she hadn't asked yet, "I don't feel too good. I think I have the virus you had."

"How can that be? You can't get sick, can you?"

"Technically you shouldn't be able to get sick either because we share the same genes somewhere. I guess this virus is a pretty strong one. You're going to have to take care of things for me while I'm sick."

Robyn was struck dumb. A whole heap of responsibility had been piled onto her and she didn't know if she'd be able to manage it. She knew she'd have to look after Sportacus on top of taking over his hero duties and also the odd repairs the Mayor needed done. None of this would be easy and she knew that help would be readily available but scarce until her friends returned.

Robyn went over to the fruit counter and prepared some apple for Sportacus, he needed food and fluids to help keep his strength and sports candy was the best way to do it. Once she'd prepared some apples and gotten a bottle of water out of the dispenser she helped Sportacus rather awkwardly into a sitting position. Sportacus groaned as he was helped up, his muscles ached and resisted at being used.

Once Robyn was satisfied that Sportacus was balanced and wouldn't lie down again or fall out of bed Robyn went to fetch the fruit and water. Slowly Robyn helped Sportacus eat the fruit and was startled to see little improvement in his condition. Sportacus didn't seem too pleased with this either and declined further food for the time being, all he wanted to do was sleep.

Bessie and the Mayor sat at lunch and chatted about the past day's events. Both had been rather surprised at Sportacus' response to Robyn when he'd caught her and hoped that those two had sorted out their grievances. It was with some considerable surprise that they saw Robyn walking towards the house looking a little agitated.

Robyn entered the Mayor's and Bessie's house through the window, it was a bad habit that she'd gotten from Sportacus and never seemed to use doors. Bessie gave permission for Robyn to sit down before it was asked and studied the child a little.

"What's wrong Robyn dear?" Bessie asked after some time, she could normally pin point the source of any distress Robyn felt but this time she was baffled.

"Uncle Sportacus has gotten the virus I had and is in bed at the moment. He's been sleeping since this morning and I haven't wanted to wake him. Because he's ill I have to do everything he does and I don't know if I can."

"That's awful," the Mayor stated with surprise. He'd never known Sportacus to be ill.

"I doubt you'll find doing Sportacus' job too hard, no one really needs saving anymore so you'll have more time to take care of him." Bessie added.

Robyn shrugged slightly, "he's stronger than me and could look after me really easily. I could hardly help him sit up and I don't know if I could do all the things for him that he did for me."

"I know its scary dear, but you'll find a way," Bessie sympathised patting Robyn on the back gently.

Robyn nodded and left the house without saying goodbye. She didn't intend to be rude and the others knew that. An enormous strain had been loaded on her and looking after any relative when they were poorly was a daunting task for anyone. Little did Robyn know that when she had been ill Sportacus had had the same doubts and fears.

Sportacus awoke a little time after Robyn had left and felt a piece of paper in his closed hand. Opening his hand Sportacus saw a small piece of folded up paper and opened it. It was a note from Robyn which read: 'I'm going to the Mayor's house then to my garden to check everything is ok but I'll be back soon. Love Robyn xxx'

Sportacus had just finished reading the note when Robyn returned. When she saw him awake she smiled and went over to him.

"Feeling any better?" Robyn asked sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"A little but not much. The sports candy and sleep helped a bit. If I have some more to eat and some more sleep I might be on my way to beating this thing."

"That sounds good. What do you want to eat now? Apple again or something else?"

Sportacus thought for a moment before answering. "Why don't you surprise me?" Sportacus said at last with a wry smile.

Robyn smiled and went to prepare Sportacus' lunch. She couldn't decide on which fruit to give Sportacus so she took a little bit from each fruit and made a fruit salad. When Sportacus had been helped to sit up again he was speechless when he saw the fruit salad. It was piled high in a shallow bowl and was very decorative as well as colourful. He was extremely impressed and didn't want to eat it for fear of ruining it but was given no choice by Robyn who helped him eat it while helping herself as well.

Fifteen minutes after he'd finished his lunch Sportacus was lying down talking to Robyn about anything and nothing. It was with embarrassment that Sportacus realised that a potential hazard was nearing which he was sure that Robyn wouldn't be able to cope with easily. When a break appeared in their conversation he made light of this hazard in the only way he knew how.

"Robyn?" Sportacus asked trying to sound casual but not doing it at all convincingly.

"Yes," Robyn answered completely unaware as to what was coming next.

Sportacus winced and got what he had to say said as fast as possible, "I need the bathroom and don't think I can get there myself. Do you think you can help me?"

Robyn stared at Sportacus blankly; she didn't know what to say.


	4. Unfortunate Accidents

Robyn had been staring blankly at Sportacus for two minutes now and he was starting to get worried. He lifted one of his hands up and waved it in front of Robyn's eyes and she blinked in response. Robyn came back into the real world and grimaced slightly remembering what she had to do and not feeling at all comfortable about it.

"Hmmm, would you be able to walk if I helped you?" Robyn asked with a slight hint of edginess in her voice.

Sportacus thought for a second and decided that he had to whether he could or not. His problem was a major imposition on Robyn and he had to help her out as much as he could. "I guess," Sportacus said finally.

Robyn nodded and helped Sportacus up into a sitting position. Sportacus managed to slide himself close enough to the edge of the bed to swing his legs over and put his feet on the floor. Robyn positioned herself so she could help Sportacus stand and support him at the same time; it took three attempts for her to get Sportacus standing without his legs giving way. The two of them took small baby steps to the bathroom, getting there that way was a lot easier than anything else they could have tried and were in the bathroom within five minutes. Robyn got Sportacus safely into the bathroom and in front of the toilet and was about to leave him to do his business when he called her back.

"I might a need a hand getting my trousers and underwear down; I can't support myself with both hands on the wall and do my trousers at the same time." Sportacus coloured furiously at asking this and could hear Robyn mutter something behind him. He wouldn't have asked but he was facing the wall and leaning on it with both hands in front of him to keep him standing and wasn't confident enough about staying standing if he took one of his hands away.

Robyn was blushing herself and with extreme reluctance walked over to Sportacus. She had no idea how to go about doing this without making the situation even more awkward then it was already. Robyn lifted one nervously shaking hand to Sportacus waist line and undid the fly of his trousers with the other, once this done she moved her hand from the fly to the other side of his waistline and gently pulled down his trousers. Offering Sportacus some kind of privacy Robyn closed her eyes as she pulled down his underwear and quickly left the room to let him do what he needed. Robyn had no idea that Sportacus felt just as embarrassed as she did if not more so for the sake of modesty about body parts.

Ten minutes later Sportacus was back in bed and Robyn was lying face down on her own bed. Both of them sat in a rather uncomfortable silence which had been brought on by a small incident in the bathroom by which Robyn's hand had slipped when pulling Sportacus' underwear back up and had brushed against the part of the body which distinguished Sportacus as a man. Robyn had been so entirely embarrassed by this that she'd had to resist running out of the airship and leaving Sportacus to fend for himself. As for Sportacus he'd felt almost the same way and was three thousand times more embarrassed than Robyn when his body reacted to the touch and had severely wanted the floor to open up and swallow him.

Sportacus felt extremely uncomfortable, the reaction he'd had to Robyn's touch was still there and he knew he had to do something about it. Deciding to handle to situation delicately Sportacus came up with the perfect way of getting Robyn to leave the airship long enough for him to do what he needed.

"Robyn?" Sportacus asked cautiously lifting his head so he could see her.

"Mmmmm hmmmmm?" came a muffled response; Robyn had her head buried in her pillow.

"Would you mind going to your flower garden to pick some flowers for me? They'd brighten the place up a bit and would make me feel better."

Robyn lifted her head from her pillow but was unable to look Sportacus straight in the eye without blushing, "sure. Any particular flowers you want?"

Sportacus thought for a few seconds and then replied, "Surprise me."

Robyn nodded and got up off of her bed. Sportacus heard her call for the ladder and closed his eyes sighing in relief. With Robyn now gone he could make himself more comfortable.

Robyn walked the short distance to her flower garden and inspected each of her six flower beds. She walked around them for quite a while trying to decide which would be the best flowers for her to give to her uncle. Eventually Robyn came to a decision and picked two flowers from each bed except the one she had reserved especially for the place where Robbie had died and Robbie's grave side.

Robyn realised that there wasn't a vase in the airship for the flowers and decided to ask the Mayor if he had any spares. She left her garden and walked over to the Mayor's house. It didn't take long for her get to the Mayor's house and when she came to the window she could smell the delicious aroma of a freshly baked cake and closed her eyes in utter ecstasy while she breathed in the wonderful smell.

"Hello Robyn, what can I do for you?"

Slowly opening her eyes Robyn noticed the Mayor standing on the other side of the window and shaking her head to wake herself up from the hypnotic properties of her favourite scent replied, "I was wondering if you have any spare flower vases. I've picked some flowers for Sportacus but he doesn't have a vase in the airship."

"Of course, I'll just look for you." The Mayor walked away and came back in a few seconds with a vase.

Robyn nodded her thanks and was about to head back to the airship when the Mayor called her back, "how are things going with you and Sportacus?"

Yet again Robyn adopted her blank stare and then simply said, "Fine," and walked away rather hurriedly leaving the Mayor scratching his head with confusion at her strange actions.


	5. Bananas

Sportacus had done what he had to do long before Robyn had returned and was feeling much more comfortable now. He was still feeling extremely embarrassed and didn't quite know what he'd do when he next needed the bathroom. It was a definite certainty that Robyn would be even more uncomfortable about helping him than she'd been before. The only thing he could do was wait and see what happened and if push came to shove he was sure he could at least crawl to the bathroom if nothing else.

Sportacus lifted his head when he heard Robyn laughing almost uncontrollably and was curious as to why. It was only when he saw what Robyn was holding in her hand that he understood and burst out laughing himself. Who knew that seeing someone holding a banana could be so funny?

It was quite some time before either of them stopped laughing; their embarrassment had eased a great deal which was a relief to both of them. Sportacus was still wiping tears of laughter from his eyes when Robyn came over and sat on the edge of his bed.

"Are you feeling any better?" Robyn asked tenderly placing one of her hands on top of one of Sportacus'

"You know, I think I'm feeling much better. That moving around earlier did a lot of good and all the laughing has made an improvement as well." Sportacus answered taking Robyn's hand in his.

"That's good." Robyn smiled and then looked away for a second before speaking again, "sorry about the hand slipping thing. I was a little bit nervous."

Sportacus chuckled slightly and shook his head, "its fine. I was pretty nervous too."

Robyn smiled a little in response and then looked over to the fruit counter; "do you want something to eat?" she asked trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, sure. I think I'll skip having a banana this time though." Sportacus laughed squeezing Robyn's hand before letting it go so she could get up and prepare some food.

The Mayor and Bessie ate in companionable silence. The Mayor had told Bessie about Robyn's strange reaction to being asked how things were going with Sportacus and both of them were trying to work it out. It was confusing to say the least as Robyn and Sportacus had always gotten on together perfectly despite some awkward moments along the way. In the end Bessie gave in, she couldn't work it out and decided she'd have to try to worm it out of Robyn the next time she saw her. She knew it couldn't be anything bad and didn't seem to be related to Sportacus' reaction to Robyn when he caught her after she'd fallen from the airship.

Bessie's thoughts were interrupted when the Mayor got up from his chair and came over to her and whispered into her ear. She immediately left any thoughts of finishing off her dinner when she heard what the Mayor proposed they do for dessert.

The refreshingly cool evening air flowed through the door of the airship and circulated inside. Robyn sat on the end of the open door and looked over the town with Sportacus' telescope. There was no movement on the streets and everything was quiet. Robyn decided to look at the Mayor's house to see what the Mayor and Bessie were having for dinner. She instantly regretted her decision when she saw something going on inside she really shouldn't have seen. She instantly went back inside the airship and threw herself face down on her bed. Sportacus was puzzled by Robyn's actions and wondered what she'd seen. He was tempted to ask her what was wrong but could tell that she was horrendously embarrassed and thought it best to leave it until later. It was only when he heard muffled laughter coming from Robyn that he changed his mind.

"What's so funny?" He asked trying not to sound too curious.

Robyn lifted her head from her pillow and then moved into a sitting position facing Sportacus, "How can I say this without making it sound bad?" Robyn began and after a slight pause came up with an idea, "let's just say that Bessie and the Mayor were enjoying a banana together."

Sportacus gave Robyn a strange look and after a few seconds realised what Robyn was trying to say, he opened his eyes wide in surprise and suppressed a chuckle. He knew how Robyn had felt when she'd seen them 'enjoying a banana' as he'd also had the misfortune to look that way once or twice and purely by accident. He'd always found it hard to look either of them in the face the day after without laughing and it always confused them as to why.

"I know one thing for sure," Robyn said suddenly.

"What?" Sportacus asked in response.

"I've seen enough bananas for one day and I'm going to go to bed now unless you need anything."

Sportacus chuckled at what Robyn had said about bananas and looked at Robyn bashfully before he made one last request of her while she was still awake.

"I know." Robyn jumped in before Sportacus could say anything, "hopefully this time we can do it without my hand slipping into unknown territory."

Sportacus slid himself to the edge of the bed as before and they repeated their actions of the previous time Sportacus needed the bathroom but with less nerves and no accidents. After Robyn helped Sportacus back into bed she was about to go to her own when Sportacus, who was still sitting up, grabbed her uninjured arm loosely and pulled her close to him and hugged her.

"Thank you." He said simply and kissed her on the forehead before letting her go to bed.

Two days later Sportacus was back to full health and was up and running around as usual. He was very grateful to Robyn for all she'd done and was proud that she'd handled things so well considering the circumstances. He was still slightly surprised how quickly the virus had left his system but put it down to his being a hero and much more immune to such things than Robyn was.

As a token of his gratitude for her services Sportacus showed Robyn how to run off of the door and onto the sky chaser properly as he'd promised. He was glad to see that Robyn was a quick study and picked it up very quickly, the only thing she had a problem with was landing. She'd proven this when she'd flown into a tree but had escaped without injury.

The day after Sportacus had recovered Bessie finally got round to asking Robyn why she'd reacted the way she did to being asked how things were going with Sportacus.

Robyn blushed slightly and looked at Sportacus who was standing behind her. Looking back at Bessie Robyn smiled and said with a slight chuckle, "We just had a small accident with a banana, nothing to worry about."

Bessie was left completely clueless when Sportacus burst out laughing and was quickly followed by Robyn. She guessed that it had to be some kind of private joke they'd shared while Sportacus was ill.


End file.
